"Many of us were looking for a bigger draw and we missed the estimate," said Andrew Lebow, a senior vice president at Jefferies Bache LLC in New York. "The market is a little tired."

Ultra low sulfur diesel for March delivery rose 1.91 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $3.002 a gallon at 12:30 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading volume was 40 percent above the 100-day average.

Supplies in PADD 1B, which includes New York, the delivery point for futures contracts, slid 14 percent to 13.6 million barrels last week, the lowest level since May 2003. Nationwide, distillate stockpiles were 12 percent below a year earlier and the lowest seasonal level since 2005.

Distillate demand fell 584,000 barrels a day to 3.94 million, according to EIA data.

"People are thinking, ‘even when you had really cold weather, that’s the best you can do?’", said David Pursell, a managing director at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. LLC in Houston.

Early Gains

Diesel touched $3.0149 earlier as the frigid temperatures and winter storms that boosted heating fuel demand the past several weeks may continue.

The eastern U.S. has a 50 to 80 percent chance for below- normal temperatures through Feb. 14, according to the U.S. Climate Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. A storm out of the Rockies is expected to reach the East Coast by Feb. 9, and it may be the worst of the week, AccuWeather said.

"Distillates are supported by the continued cold-weather forecasts in the Northeast, which will continue to tighten supplies," said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston.